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By Douglas Ernst -
The Washington Times
-
Wednesday, February 20, 2013

How serious is the threat of Chinese hackers to the security of the United States? Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, can’t tell you.

Speaking to MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchel on Wednesday, Mr. Rogers, Michigan Republican, said the scope of China’s repeated breaches of U.S. cybersecurity is “breathtaking, it’s serious, and it will cost us the next generation of prosperity if we don’t do something about it.”

The U.S. security firm Mandiant Corp. recently has alleged that Chinese hackers have attacked military contractors and energy companies. The sophisticated attacks were traced to a Chinese military unit, charges that the country’s Defense Ministry has denied.

“We need to start identifying these individuals, looking at maybe denying visas, visas of their families,” Mr. Rogers said. “I can’t tell you how serious this problem is. There are two companies left in America: One is those companies that have been hacked and know it, and two, the companies who have been hacked and don’t know it. It is unfortunate at the scope of the problem here that we’re just not stepping up in a way to deal with it to protect American jobs.”